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Enabling Poor Rural People to Overcome Poverty in Yemen

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Enabling Poor Rural People to Overcome Poverty in Yemen ©IFAD/G. Ludwig Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty in Yemen Rural poverty in Yemen The Republic of Yemen is one of the driest, poorest and least developed countries in the world. Poverty and food insecurity are strongly linked with the depletion and degradation of land and water resources. It is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world – each Yemeni’s average share of renewable water resources is about one tenth of the average in most Middle Eastern countries and one fiftieth of the world average. Poverty affects nearly 42 per cent of the country’s population and is mainly a rural phenomenon. Over 80 per cent of poor people reside in rural areas, and almost half of them live on less than US$2 a day. Small-scale farmers, sharecroppers, landless people, nomadic herders and artisanal fishers all suffer from inadequate access to basic necessities such as land, safe water, health care services and education. The population is young and growing rapidly. Two thirds of Yemenis are under 24 years old, and half are less than 15 years of age. More than 50 per cent of all children suffer from malnutrition. Women are also particularly disadvantaged. In addition to their heavy domestic workload, they provide 60 per cent of the labour in crop cultivation and more than 90 per cent in tending livestock. Despite their vital contributions to the rural economy, women have very limited access to economic, social and political opportunities. Many are illiterate and on average they earn 30 per cent less than men. Poverty is most prevalent in the highlands, the semi-desert areas in the east and northeast, the sand dune strip and areas of the central Tihama plain, and in fishing villages on the Arabian Sea. Food insecurity is most severe in rural highland areas where population densities are high and landholdings are very small. Although only about 2.5 per cent of the country’s land is arable, agriculture is the backbone of the rural economy, with around 90 per cent of rural households involved in crop or livestock production. However, due to low productivity few households can support themselves on agriculture alone and most rely on income fr om employment or remittances. The main agricultural areas are the terraced, mostly rainfed highland zones and irrigated lowlands in the centre and along the coasts of the Red and Arabian Seas. Yemen produces a limited variety of crops, including coffee, fruit, pulses and vegetables. Khat, a controversial mild stimulant drug is also produced. It plays a major role in the economy, accounting for 8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 40 per cent of agricultural GDP. Nearly 15 per cent of the workforce is employed in its marketing and production, which uses 40 per cent of the country’s water resources. Typical households spend five times more money on khat than on education. A significant portion of the terraced farming system is deteriorating because of neglect and lack of maintenance, and t he country’s fishery resources have been subject to overexploitation. As a result, Yemen is a food-deficient country that produces less than a third of its needs and imports nearly US$1 billion worth of foodstuffs annually, including 70 per cent of its wheat and 90 per cent of its rice. Eradicating rural poverty in Yemen The Government of Yemen’s Strategic Vision 2025 is a long-term plan to transform the economy into middle-income country status by 2025. It focuses on supporting rainfed agriculture, expanding water harvesting, improving water-use efficiency, cultivating crops such as coffee, potatoes and vegetables, and controlling the cultivation of khat. It also includes investments in research to improve the productivity, quality and competitiveness of the fisheries sector by enhancing marketing infrastructure for refrigeration, storage and processing. Yemen’s poverty reduction strategy paper and the associated five-year development plans aim to reduce the proportion of the population living below the poverty line. Poverty reduction rests on what are referred to as the four pillars of the strategy: economic growth, human resources development, improved infrastructure and social protection. Pr ojects described in the most recent five-year plan increased public investments by nearly US$6 billion. In view of the critical shortage of water resources, the development plan recognizes that the future of agriculture depends on increasing investments and improving the efficiency of both the rainfed sector and the existing irrigated sector. It also proposes a number of other activities, including deve loping and marketing export crops, and improving access to credit and financial resources for rural households. It seeks to upgrade the livestock sector by improving animal health and livestock extension services, introducing better rangeland management practices, and establishing producer associations and groups that will increase the bargaining power of livestock producers. 2 IFAD’s strategy in Yemen IFAD is currently one of the two largest donors supporting Yemen’s rural agricultural Programmes and projects: 21 sector. IFAD has worked in Yemen since the Fund’s creation, and has acquired a Total cost: US$668.3 million wealth of experience and knowledge of the economy and society, and developed a Total financing from IFAD: US$223.9 million wide network of partners in the country. IFAD’s goal in Yemen is to achieve improved, Directly benefiting: 573,240 households diversified and sustainable livelihoods for poor rural women, men and young people, especially those who depend on rainfed agriculture and livestock production systems in the poorest areas. IFAD has three main strategic objectives in Yemen: • empowering rural communities by strengthening partnerships with civil society organizations and using community-driven approaches so that poor rural people can manage local community development activities; • promoting sustainable rural financial services and pro-poor rural enterprises by developing savings and credit associations for disadvantaged groups in remote rural areas and developing rural enterprises that provide jobs for the unemployed, especially young people and women; • enhancing food security for poor households by restoring the productive agricultural base and improving productivity so that poor households can produce enough for household needs and a surplus that can be sold. Popular participation, gender balance and environmental sustainability are emphasized in all of IFAD's initiatives. In recent years IFAD’s approach in Yemen has focused increasingly on the creation of economic and employment opportunities for poor rural people. IFAD has recently supported the establishment of the Economic Opportunities Fund, a sustainable public-private partnership that provides investments in rural financial services, economic infrastructure and value chain development. ©IFAD/G. Ludwig ©IFAD/G. 3 Ongoing operations Dhamar Participatory Rural Development Project Al-Dhala Community Resource Management Project Pilot Community-Based Rural Infrastructure Project in Highland Areas Fisheries Investment Project Rainfed Agriculture and Livestock Project Economic Opportunities Programme Sana’a Fisheries Investment Project Total cost: US$32.9 million This nationwide project, covering all nine maritime governorates along the Yemeni IFAD debt sustainability framework coast, is managed by the Economic Opportu nities Fund. It aims to improve the (DSF) grant: US$9.1 million economic status of small fisher households by creating sustainable and diversified Duration: 2011-2017 economic opportunities for poor women and men in fishing communities. Cofinancing: European Union (US$5.3 million); Islamic Development The project participants include small-scale fishers, fishers’ organizations, and poor Bank (US$13.3 million) households in coastal communities interested in engaging in aquaculture or starting Directly benefiting: 45,000 households up microbusinesses. Economic Opportunities Pro gramme Total cost: US$38.6 million The programme seeks to create economic opportunities for poor rural people. It IFAD DSF grant: US$12.9 million works with smallholder and landless households to develop value chains for three Duration: 2010-2016 high-value agricultural commodities: coffee, honey and horticulture products. These Cofinancing: European Union value chains have significant potential for reducing poverty and increasing economic (US$9.7 million); Islamic Development Bank (US$10.5 million) growth through export market expansion and rural job creation. The programme Directly benefiting: 14,000 households also promotes microbusinesses to meet demand for goods and services in rural areas. The participants include coffee producers with small terraced landholdings, smallholder farmers, sharecroppers, and landless households interested in protected horticulture, mobile honey production and rural small businesses. Women constitute the key target group for microbusinesses. Rainfed Agriculture and Livestock Project Total cost: US$42.2 million This project helps reduce rural poverty and improve the management of natural IFAD loan: US$16.6 million resources in five of the most disadvantaged areas of the governorates of Al-Mahweet, Duration: 2009-2014 Hajjah, Hodeidah, Lahej and Sana’a. Rapid population growth is causing increased Cofinancing: World Bank, pressure on natural resources in these areas where the local economy is International Development Association (IDA) (US$19.6 million) predominantly based on rainfed agriculture and
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